Dispatches from the new Russian empire

Spotted in Saint Petersburg: Raleigh St. Clair and Margot Tenenbaum

A friend recently asked me if I had seen Raleigh St. Clair walking around Saint Petersburg. After acknowledging the brilliance of the question and responding that yes I had– and he was with Margot– I realized that Saint Petersburg has a very similar aesthetic quality to Wes Anderson films, especially The Royal Tenenbaums. The colors are slightly muted, the characters I meet absurd and eccentric and the feeling of decay amongst the beauty and glamour of the once-home to the tsars, gives the impression tof a Wes Anderson film set. The scene of Margot smoking in the bathroom could have been filmed in Saint Petersburg and her role filled by any number of Russian women. Additionally, her depressing acceptance of the harsh realities of life and denial of bad habits reminds me a lot of Russians.

There is a slightly unhinged quality about Russia as if everyone is waiting for the defining tragic moment of their life to occur. If the collective conscious of Russia might be described as a Royal Tenenbaum character it would most certainly be Eli Cash. Everything in Saint Petersburg is grandoise and beautiful. Splendor on a scale worthy of the Russian Empire surprises you at every turn, but then you stop looking up at the palaces and down at your feet and notice the crumbling brick and the empty bottle of vodka. You can’t help but feel a little sad.

Note: This theory might be complete crap but at least it takes up space…